My Time In Police Cars
The world outside looks different when you see it through the windows of a police car. And, when you're in one, you can tell the world sure as hell looks differently at you.
Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemen, which is sliding into civil war, and that is driving up the price of oil. Finally! We pray that in these uncertain times, our leaders—before they pursue the path of war—think of the oil traders, and pursue the path of war.
Cheez Is Healthy, For the Right Price
Though I enjoy a good slice of American Cheez Food Product as much as the next unsophisticated child, I would not be so bold as to declare that product to be "healthy." Prestigious nutritionists bound to differ!
The Unauthorized Biography of a Black Cop
We're celebrating the Fourth of July at my cousin's McMansion in Lake Mary, Florida, a short stroll across a golf course to the Sanford line. I'm surrounded by kinfolk I haven't seen since the last funeral. We're sipping sweet wine, Baileys, and beer. We're telling the stories we always tell, and stories I've never…
The Road to Montgomery: Residents Recall the Historic Selma Marches
The story of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches has been documented countless times. What hasn't been explored with the same scope is the effect these momentous events had on townspeople living in Selma during that period. Growing up, my mom shipped me to Selma every summer to stay with my grandmother, Bernice…
Spec Houses: The Kindling of the Class War
If and when America's class war-driven revolution begins in earnest, there would certainly be worse targets for guerilla action than unoccupied $100 million mansions—monuments to pure greed and speculation.
Ferguson and the Criminalization of American Life
The Department of Justice's investigation of the Ferguson Police Department has scandalized the nation, and justly so. But the department's institutional racism, while shocking, isn't the report's most striking revelation.
Hundreds March at UVA to Protest Brutal Arrest of Martese Johnson
Last night 300 students at the University of Virginia rallied to protest the violent arrest of Martese Johnson, a fellow student who was reportedly bloodied by officers Tuesday night for trying to enter a local pub with an alleged fake ID.
Black UVA Student Beaten Bloody by Police Over Alleged Fake ID: Reports
There are multiple reports that third-year University of Virginia student Martese Johnson was brutally beaten by local law enforcement after trying to use a fake ID to enter Trinity Irish Pub Tuesday night, a local bar in Charlottesville.
Affordable Housing vs. Dystopian Walled Cities of the Future
In California, the high cost of housing is hurting the state's economic growth and pushing its citizens deeper into poverty. But there's so much land! Why is it so hard to find somewhere affordable to rent?
Why Do Police Keep Shooting the Mentally Ill?
The last tweet Anthony Hill sent read, "Never say never." Two hours later, around 2 p.m. on March 9, he was shot dead. Reports and video footage, captured moments before his death, spotlight Hill's erratic behavior: the 26-year-old Air Force veteran had been wandering The Heights apartment complex naked, crawling on…
Cuba Welcomes You, Yankee Imperialists!
"Each person should feel happy at work. They should feel happy with their task as creators. They should instill all those around them with their revolutionary and creative enthusiasm." — Che Guevara.
Body Cam Films Cops Gunning Down Mentally Ill Man Holding Screwdriver
The horrifying body camera footage of a Dallas police officer shooting and killing Jason Harrison—a mentally ill man who was holding a screwdriver when he was gunned down—has finally been made public.
An Anonymous Cop Is Here to Answer All Your Questions About the Police
Police officers turn up a lot in Gawker stories, but unless they're a department commissioner giving a press conference or a union leader loudly berating a public official, it's rare that they actually have a voice. What does the average beat cop think about Darren Wilson or Daniel Pantaleo? What is he looking for…
How Police Body Cameras Were Designed to Get Cops Off the Hook
In the wake of protests over police violence against black men, many civil rights activists are calling for a high-tech solution: strapping wearable body cameras to cops. The idea is to hold police accountable for unnecessary violence. But the history of police body cams reveals that the devices have often had the…
The state of Texas is scheduled to use its last dose of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital on Wednesday, leaving its ability to carry out several upcoming scheduled executions in question. The drug shortage comes too late for some people.
Fight Inequality: Abolish the Senate
America's decades-long growth of economic inequality has plenty of causes. Here's one that doesn't get enough attention.
Creflo Dollar Getting More Into Satan
Something—the sneaky finger of Jesus, perhaps—seems to have taken down the web page where His Holiness Pastor Creflo A. Dollar was asking followers to give him $65 million to buy a new private jet.
NYPD Employees Apparently Tried to Hide Police Brutality on Wikipedia
On December 3, the Wikipedia article on the death of Eric Garner read in part: "Garner raised both his arms in the air and was then put in a chokehold from behind by officer Daniel Pantaleo." Later that day, it changed almost imperceptibly: Garner didn't just raise his arms, he flailed them, and Pantaleo's takedown…
Arizona Completely Abandons Its Community Colleges
Community colleges are the most democratic forms of higher education, and, you could argue, the most important. Don't tell that to the state of Arizona.
